Wednesday, August 31, 2005

The roads are open and people can finally go home to the East End and Columbia Tusclum. Lets hope traffic gets back to normal as well. Yesterday and this morning is was horrible all over the East Side of the Metro Area.

A fairly relaxed event. None of the candidates scored big, but one played it way to safe. Korte has his summary and the results of the WCPO poll giving Pepper a very slight edge over Reece, followed by Mallory then Winburn.

Reece, Mallory, and Winburn all did fairly well, but did not jump out with anything to grab the masses. Pepper lost the expectations game. He was on the defensive or just stayed to positive to make a big impression on anyone. As the assumed frontrunner, he under performed in comparison.

Jeffre gave a good effort, but was too rehearsed. He would win the most improved campaigner, but he sounded like he was relying on his political consultant's coaching, instead of being himself. It came across as artificial. Grisco and Noble were comic relief. Noble, who bills herself as "Queen," actual used the word "penis" in a debate. The crowd, including myself, could barely hold back the laughter. Even the camera man was cracking up. She used the word in a semi-reasonable manner, but it is not the thing people want to hear their mayor say, especially when you are wearing "Chuck Taylor Hightops."

Winburn turned me off early. He stayed on his message, but that was the problem. He was all FOP all the time. He referenced the FOP constantly and he repeated a random statistic of "467 murders on the streets of Cincinnati," but I never heard him place a time frame for that. Is that in the last 5 years, 10 years? I think he is pushing that number higher, to make crime look worse than it is. That is misleading and playing the fears of the white voters he is out to get. He lost 95% of the black vote when he stood there next to Keith Fangman and praised the police. If he wants to praise the police, he should have had the Sentinels there too.

Overall it was a very good event. WCET puts on a first rate show and Give Back Cincinnati and Legacy did a great job organizing it. The crowd was not full, but there at least 150 to a max of 200 people there. I think the studio was set up for 250. The questions were pointed toward YP's, which I think was a bit of a shame. I would have like to hear much more variety of questions. Many of them covered the same issues and got repeated answers. No one asked anything controversial.

My order on who "won" the debate is only for fun and are based only on my impressions:

MalloryReeceWinburnPepperJeffreGriscoNoble

This forum gave some good exposure for all candidates, but did not shake up the race much. Pepper still would assumed to be a lock to make the finals, but anyone of the other top 3 could make it with him. Reece shows no signs of her residency scandal. Time will tell.

It will be a cold day in 'Hell' before Winburn is elected mayor, so why not just start reducing crime now? Harry, if you have the answers to solving crime, lets hear them.

His answer I am sure was meant to be that if only the mayor to be would support the police contract, then violent crime would go down. Now, why does that sound like extortion to me? How supporting a contract reduces crime is beyond me. I mean, proactive policing is the thing that might work and oh maybe STOPPING THE SLOWDOWN just might helps things along.

So, Cincinnati voters, I guess we have a police gun to our heads. If you want violent crime to go down, only a vote for Winburn will get it for you, so sayeth the FOP.

I really would like to know why Winburn supports this union over other unions. How many other unions play with the lives of the citizens of the city, just so a couple of people, and I do mean just a few, can get senior management jobs in the CPD? The police union just continues to look like the sleaziest bunch of thugs, playing the protection racket to line their own pockets with a few measly promotions.

I also was laughing when the FOP talk about Winburn being the "only candidate" for this and for that. Well, he is the only Republican endorsed candidate in the race, so guess what, that was a big reason for their actions. The local FOP is an arm of the group.

Last night I got the robocall from Roberts. I hung up before it finished spewing propaganda. I really hate being a registered independent. The damn GOP thinks my vote is up for grabs.

I guess the rule of law is a negative when it comes to Kentucky Republicans. Who wants investigations when you hold the governorship? If you want an abuse of power, well you have it. This will not turn off many Republicans either, which is so sad. The state of politics today is so low that as long as their side "wins," few care what is done to get them there. You can be sure that if Fletcher was a Democrat, FOX News and talk radio would be calling for impeachment at best and coup de tat at a worse.

Monday, August 29, 2005

For information on the Evacuation, check WCPO and the Enquirer. WCPO is reporting that a curfew may be established for tonight. I hope just in the evacuation area.

I myself live to the East of the area, within a couple miles. I know several people who live in the affected area and hope they are coping with the hassle. I for one hope the parties responsible for leaving this stuff around for 9 months get punished. I have been walking on the Lunken Bike Trail near this tanker for months and did not know it.

I live fairly close to this tanker leak, so I was a bit concerned when I heard about it last night, after I had driven by the general area. This morning Columbia Parkway is closed off in the area, so I am concerned about anyone living in the area. If the road is still closed today, it must have been a bigger leak than they thought, or someone is being really cautious.

Sunday, August 28, 2005

I will never cease to be amazed at the level of out right ignorance and spiteful hate Peter Bronson has for former President Bill Clinton. Ok, the guy got a bj in the oval office. We get it. He was not the first and will not be the last man (or President) to cheat on his wife. How Peter can twist his puritan sexual loathing of Clinton into a mind numbing attack where he blames Bill Clinton for 9/11, is simplly lost on me:

Not even the Pentagon budget can buy a force field to protect President Bush from the press-corps lasers. But former President Clinton is still bulletproof.

During his administration in 2000, a top-secret Pentagon project called Able Danger tracked al-Qaida terrorists, and uncovered a cell including Mohamed Atta, leader of the 9/11 hijackers, according to officers who worked on the project.

But the Clinton administration had put up a wall of rules to keep the FBI from talking to the CIA. Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., said attempts to alert the FBI were blocked by Clinton lawyers. "They said, 'He's here legally. He's either got a green card or he's got a visa. So you can't even touch him - it doesn't matter what information you have.'''

That might be a big story - "White House kept FBI from stopping 9/11 terrorists" - but it can't get past the invulnerable Clinton force-field.

Here we have Peter living in a FOX News world, sucking on his FOX News Pacifier. He writes for a large newspaper, yet seems to believe the fantasy that somehow his heroes don't get a pass. I would just like to ask him how big a price George Bush has paid for either being a complete idiot or for lying to the public. Bush either was a fool and trusted invalid information, or he knowingly presented bad information to the American puclic. Ether way he gave bad information to the public and sent us into a war we were told was needed because Iraq was a threat to us. Once again, to educate those few remaining diehard war supporters, Iraq was not a threat to the USA and had no connection to 9/11. I say this with fact on my side. If you, like Bronson, somehow think the truth is not getting out about the threat of Iraq on the USA or of it's alleged connection to 9/11, then I guess you should be more pissed at FOX News for not reporting the truth you want to hear.

Fantasy man, Peter Bronson, seems to not get out much beyond his cul-de sac and the way he writes his tripe column this week, you would think he is only reading FreeRepublic.com and listening to Sean Hannity. I mean, your average mainstream Republican does not hold these types of views. So either Peter is playing the antagonist to my protagonist or he is really just off on some lunatic extreme right wing snakebite induced bender. Either way, I hope people don't buy into his mythical propaganda, but I am sure some suckers will. Someone will like the views they hear, want to believe them, find them a boost to their political identity, and buy into it.

Saturday, August 27, 2005

The Vice Mayor 'officially' lives lives in Cincinnati, at least as the Board of Elections is concerned. With the evidence she had on her side it would have been very difficult to prove otherwise. You don't have to sleep in a residence every night to 'live' there. Utility bills cover it.

What is still on the table, but doesn't seem to be going anywhere, are the signatures that may have been gather by her family, who have given up their registration status.

What Kimball Perry's article illustrates best are the severe issues Nate Livingston has:

After board chairman Tim Burke told Livingston they were only interested in allegations from the last six years, Livingston became angry.

He yelled at Burke, repeatedly screaming at him to "be quiet" and "shut up." When Livingston continued to yell but also stood up to confront Burke, a Hamilton County sheriff's deputy at the meeting for security purposes yelled at Livingston several times to sit down.

"Don't give me no more lectures," Livingston screamed at Burke.

After that, Livingston told the board he didn't think they were taking his complaint seriously and asked them to dismiss it so he could present it instead to law-enforcement authorities.

The word "unhinged" comes to mind. It will come to no shock that I will be attacked by him for highlighting his childish temper tantrum, but what I say is nothing compared to the shame having this in the Enquirer brings. For once Nate actually had a valid issue to go after, and then he lets the chip on his shoulder ruin it.

I have to give Peter Bronson some occasional credit, but I am doing it a day late so not to make it flowing with praise, and confuse my readers too much.

A pretty good column from Bronson on Huggy Bear. He walked the line on being too harsh on Zimpher. Pete has to please the meat eating UC fans out there, but did not really have that big a problem with this her views, more her timing and style.

He had a good line too, actually very timely: "But if Huggins is the Venezuelan dictator of coaches, Zimpher sounds like the Pat "Hit Man" Robertson of college presidents."

Maggie Downs is Leaving Cincinnati. It is very sad to see her go. I have enjoyed her writing and am happy to be able to call her a friend. The Enquirer will have a hole in it and so will the many friends she has made here in town.

I personally wish her well in her journey out West, and hope she can find life as good there as I think she found it here.

Maggie, please don't be a stranger to Cincinnati. We would love to have to back. Take Care and Be Well!

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

I am once again put in the unenviable position of having to defend Bob Huggins, who I despise, but…

If you want to make the case that he should be fired because of the off-the-court behavior of his players, fair enough, though I would argue that incidents have decreased over the past several years. If it’s because of the DUI, they should have done it last year when it happened. If it’s because of the grad rates, it should have happened five years ago, instead of now when 11 players have received degrees in the past four years. If it’s because of low player GPA, then I suggest that the school hire an attorney that can spell the word ‘team’, or at least use a spell checker. And if they just wanted him gone, then Zimpher should have had the guts to do it in March, instead of wait until after all the UCATS donation came in to pull this (and if she has any integrity she’ll give a full refund to any donor that wants their money back).

Those who say that firing Huggins will improve the academic image of the university are fooling themselves. Show me one graduate of UC that didn’t get a job because Bob Huggins tarnished the reputation of their education. I don’t know where anyone got this idea that UC is a borderline Ivy league school; it’s average at best. Maybe the reason for its low academic reputation is that it just isn’t that good. Why have Michigan, who has been racked with probation issues, and Tulane, who went through point shaving scandals, not had issues with their reputations? Because they’re great academic schools.

And don’t think that UC is going to get anything better than a third-tier coach that will be nothing more than a puppet for Zimpher. Last year’s recruiting class stunk because Huggins was a lame duck coach; this year’s will be worse, because Andy Kennedy (or whomever is the interim coach) knows they’ll be gone in a year. No established coach, or even a decent up-and-comer for that matter, would take this job with two lost classes; if you think one would, I challenge you to give me names and I’ll tell you why they won’t come here. Also, if I’m the incoming coach, I want specific guidelines on what the academic expectations are. If graduating 11 players in four years isn’t good enough, then what are the parameters?

In the end, it’s Nancy’s school, and if she wants to fire him, she’s got every right to. But I think she’s isolated herself so much from any dissenting opinions that she doesn’t fully grasp what she’s gotten herself into here. And when the donations stop flowing in (and they’ve already lost a $4 million one) and she has to start raising tuition significantly, she’s going to have to explain why this was a good idea.

The letters to the editor today illustrate what is wrong with college sports. The vast majority of the letters are upset. They want Huggins to stay. Why? They want the team to win. Well, that is something they should expect from the Bengals and the Reds, two professional sports teams whose only purpose is to entertain them with wins. College athletes are there to get an education. I know that is not how the big time colleges act, but it should be. The players here are not pieces of meat. They should be given a real education. The players that come here should want an education. If they want ONLY to go to the NBA, don't bring them here.

Yea, they can party. They can't play football. This actually is a really hated "honor" for school officials. OU is a good school, but suffers from a 'bad' image of slackers, hippies, pot heads, and outcasts. I am sure people are shocked I did not go there.

It is sad yet true that so many Republican voters are mindless drones who are driven to vote by code words:

Winburn is using direct mail and recorded phone calls aimed at Republican voters in an effort to remind them that he is the endorsed Republican in the race. As a councilman, Pepper often did better in Republican wards than the endorsed Republican candidates.

Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Westwood, have been targeting Republican households in recorded messages that campaign operatives call "robocalls."

"Charlie Winburn was a strong conservative voice on City Council for eight years," Chabot says. "As a family man himself, Charlie believes in the family values important to Cincinnati Republicans. Charlie Winburn is the only endorsed Republican candidate for mayor."

I know that Dems can be swayed too, but Winburn is trying to ring a bell in hopes that his base will start salivating. The sad part is, as the last two elections show, it works with mindless drones out there who vote either by party line or the "family values" drivel.

91.7 WVXU's website has a new url (www.wvxu.org) and a really new look. The site is much better than the old site. The X-Star website was not very good and was in a really old format, never getting much of an update.

This site is dynamic and offers quite a bit. It could use more first hand local news, instead of WCPO syndication. They are set up for it, but have not produced much yet.

Interesting speculation on next year's Race for the U.S. Senate. Mike DeWine should be worried both about Taft bringing down the GOP in Ohio as much as he should worry about the old conservative guard not forgetting his independence streak against killing the filibuster.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

I know sometimes that reporters use Press Releases as the basis for their articles, but since when editors allow columnists to just write a story based on a Oil Industry Lobbyists? If this was not so straight forward I would say someone was paid. Instead of it being a columnist, that someone may be Gannett, Inc.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Suburban Republican leaders endorsed Charlie Winburn on Thursday for mayor of Cincinnati, calling him the only candidate who can make Cincinnati a safe place to live.

The supporters included Mayors Robert Bemmes of Reading, Rick Bryan of Blue Ash, David Collins of Deer Park, Richard Ellison of Elmwood Place, Jay Gohman of Terrace Park, Brad Greenberg of Loveland, Virgil Lovitt of Sharonville, Dan Policastro of Mariemont, James Rolfes of North Bend and Theodore Shannon of Fairfax.

Now, the nice editors created a totally misleading subheading saying "Suburbanites for Winburn" which misleads the reader. It should have read "Suburnban Republican Leaders for Winburn," but that ends up sounding like a "Water is Wet" headline. What also is bad here is that the rest of section just lists the leaders out. This is right from a press release, not original reporting at all. This is not even news. This is a free campaign commercial for Winburn. At least the Pepper section on this article had quotes from the campaign. They could have gotten something from Winburn to use. Hell, there should have been quotes in the press release that they could have used.

This goes to show that the GOP leaders in the rest of the country are either stupid or just loyal partisans. I hope it is the latter, but it could of course be both.

Every member of Reece family, except the Vice Mayor, pulled their voter registrations after being questioned on their residency. They were all obviously playing some type of game with voting and got caught. It has been rather obvious, but for some reason now, action was taken.

This will hurt Reece, but odds I think were already against her making the top two anyway.

I wish to put out a big thank you to Adam and Josh for filling in for me while I was on vacation. I think they did a great job, and carried forth the blog with gusto! Things may or may not get back to normal now; I am still recovering a bit.

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

After arriving at the Fairbanks, Alaska Airport at 10:30 PM last night (3:30 AM Cincy Time) I landed this afternoon at about 1:45 PM. I connected in Seattle, which by the way has poor signs directing you where the various concourses are. I had the almost guess.

I am tired. I don't have to work tomorrow, and am staying up today as late up to my normal bedtime as possible to try and rid myself of some of the impending jet lag and Red-Eye flight schedule. I had maybe 3 to 4 hours sleep between the two plane legs.

I had a great time on my cruise/land tour of Alaska, but I must tell you I am happy to be home. It was a long time away, and it was a bit too long.

Somebody wake me when this whole thing is over. Now the county has to meet with the Cincinnati Planning Commission to ensure there are 'no more delays'? Wasn't this a selling point of voting for the Reds' park to be at the Wedge instead of Broadway Commons? Seven years later and we're still going through this crap? How much longer until this thing gets built? I only plan on being around another 40-50 years, I'd like to see it in my lifetime.

Allow me to go all Wes Flinn here and comment on a letter to the editor in the Enquirer from yesterday. Let's go to Williamstown, KY, where fine woman Norma Oliver comments on Mike Wagers, the cabbie that called the police to report the whereabouts of Jennifer and George Hyatte:

I think this was a good thing. I prayed with my husband that the Lord would reveal the whereabouts of George and Jennifer Hyatte to the proper authorities, but most of all I prayed that they would do no harm to anyone else and that they would give up peacefully.I think I also heard another comment made on TV coverage of someone else praying that they'd give up peacefully and that there be no more harm done. I think it worked out perfect and God's hands were all over this!Holy shit!! So because this woman (and maybe/maybe not another person) prayed for a peaceful end, she thinks that's what caused it to happen? I'm not condemning prayer, but to think that your prayer helped police capture a criminal? Good lord! And what's scary is that I think there's a lot of people like her out there. And didn't Wagers get contacted to call police based on a news flash on TV? Are we now saying that God speaks through CNN and MSNBC (though I've always looked as Lester Holt as a Christ-like figure anyways).

More importantly, what's the converse of this way of thought? If someone dies or contracts a rare disease, do we then tell them they didn't pray hard enough for it not to happen? Or when the Patriots beat the Eagles in last year's Super Bowl, do we tell the Eagles that God must not have liked them as much as he did the Patriots? Where does it end?

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

It's probably a good thing to have an independent commission draw up lines for congressional districs. However, I'm not a big fan of doing this to 'make races more competitive'. I thought the purpose of districs was to have counties/areas with similar interests represented by the same congressman/woman. Granted some current districts could probably use some reshaping, and that's all well and good to take the decision out of the lawmaker's hands. But let's not do it strictly to make races more competitive.

Delta finally sells off regional carrier ASA for $425 million, but then says it still might not prevent them from filing Chapter 11. This begs the question, what is CVG going to do when Delta goes under, what will the city use the Delta customer service building for, and how silly will the city leaders feel for giving Delta all the perks it did to keep their offices downtown? Oh wait, never mind, the government will most likely continue to bail them out so they can continue losing money.

Why does Reds COO (Cheap Operating Officer) John Allen continue to deny rumors that they're looking to deal Ken Griffey Jr.? It makes sense to do. If you want to build a winner over the next several years, you deal Griffey, get out from under that God awful contract, get some prospects, and spend the money on pitching. If you want to stare at a superstar that has maybe a few years left and won't help the club win on his own, you keep him, but people want to see a winner in the end. Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis goes off on 1st round David Pollack for holding out. Good for him. I'm all for an athlete getting theirs, but at a certain point you either want to play or you don't. It's only about $200K that they're bickering about (I know that's a lot, but in sports parlance it's not all that much). Compromise, suck it up, sign the deal, and get your ass into camp.

On the surface it looks great for Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Rosa Blackwell that its schools' ratings have improved from academic emergency to continuous improvement in just two years. However, given the population shifts to the suburbs, I don't think it's going to have quite the effect on enrollment that the Enquirer thinks it will. It's a great thing, but there's still a perception that the suburban schools are better, one that will likely take several years of consistent high performance for CPS to overcome. And there is a certain percentage of the population that would just rather live in the suburbs. But this is a good start.

Bright Future plans to donate 10 percent of its net profit to the Bright Future Adoption Foundation, which is dedicated to helping bring children and prospective parents together through adoption.

In addition, the company

awarded the production contract for the brand to a food manufacturing facility in Southeastern Ohio launched by The Appalachian Center for Economic Networks, of Athens, which is working to revitalize a depressed economy in that part of the state.

According to a Bigg's press release, "Following the introductory phase, we expect Ma-Me! will be offered in all 14 of our stores."

When asked whether the investigation regarding 60 unreported golf outings would lead to his resignation, Taft responded by saying

We are not going to talk about [that]. This process is still not complete; it's not finished. It wouldn't be proper to answer a number of those questions until the Ethics Commission provides its reports, and we provide the information to the public.

It looks to me like Taft will be resigning.

Columbus resident Mike Short labeled this admission by Taft "the tip of the iceberg."

Short continued by saying

I think he's betrayed the state. If his mission is to take care of the people, and generate business and income for the state, he's gone about it the wrong way.

Short indicated that if Taft refuses to step down, the legislature should remove him from office.

In related news, Ohio's probe into the coingate scandal is now expected to cost $6.5 million.

Since it's a slow news day, and since the media has allowed itself to become distracted by the new shiny object known as John Roberts, I think it's time to put the Valerie Plame situation back in the spotlight. So in a perfect world, here is a list of questions that I would like to have answered by this administration:

What exactly did Karl Rove say to Matt Cooper of Time magazine, and what did Scooter Libby discuss with New York Times reporter Judith Miller during early July 2003?

If Rove specifically referred Valerie Plame or Joe Wilson’s wife, why did he need to identify her, instead of just saying some mid-level staffer from the CIA sent him? And why did Rove not confirm with the CIA whether her identity was classified or not?

Who saw the classified state department memo issued on July 7, 2003, that specifically named Plame, and whom did they inform about the contents of this memo?

How did journalist Robert Novak learn of her identity, and what communication did he have with other members of the government?

If Plame’s identification was not classified as some claim, why did Bush’s own Justice Department and the special prosecutor determine that the criminal referral from the CIA had merit? Why did 11 former CIA agents feel compelled to send a letter to Congress denouncing this claim? Further, why has former CIA agent Larry Johnson, a Republican, ripped this administration over its handling of the situation?

Even if we assume that Joe Wilson is a hack and was sent to Niger by his wife (neither of which are true, but for argument’s sake we’ll say so), how does that justify the leak of her name to the press?

Explain how this administration has cooperated with the investigation.

Why did President Bush’s standards for dismissing anyone that leaked her name change? If the president’s standard now is that no one convicted of a felony can work in his administration, does that only apply to this case, or do previous convictions (Iran-Contragate for example) apply as well? Or do they receive grandfathered protection?

Help us understand why White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan issued blanket denials that Rove and Scooter Libby were not involved in the leak. Did he know that they were involved and decide on his own to deny? Was McClellan told to deny that Rove and Libby were involved? Or was McClellan informed by the administration that Rove and Libby were not involved?

Scott McClellan has refused to answer any queries on Rove or Libby’s involvement recently, citing that he cannot comment on an ongoing investigation. Then how was Attorney General Alberto Gonzales able to comment just two weeks ago that he did not have any knowledge of Ms. Plame and her role at the CIA? What is the administration’s exact position on commenting on this matter, and which one conflicted with its policy?

Why did the CIA have to notify the Justice department four times that a criminal act may have been committed before launching an investigation? Why was former Attorney General John Ashcroft so reluctant to assign a special prosecutor to the case? Would it have anything to do with his close working relationship with Rove over the previous 20 years?

Why, when the DOJ informed (at the time White House counsel) Gonzales was informed on the evening of Monday, September 29, 2003, to save all documents relating to the Plame situation, did they then tell him it was ok to wait until the next morning to inform the White House staff? Why did he then tell Andrew Card about this on that Monday evening before informing the staff? Whom did Card discuss this with during the 12 hour time period? And why should we believe that this 12 hour window is not in fact the ‘Plamegate’ version of the 18 minute gap in the Nixon tapes?

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Enquirer editor Byron McCauley pens an interesting piece today on the topic of religion in politics. I actually don't disagree with some of his piece; I don't expect politicians to leave their religion at the door. If someone conducts themselves by the tenets of their religion in their private life, I have no problem with them being the same way in public office. Having said that, I would hope that behaving that way includes keeping it to themselves; there's a difference between following a religion intensely and preaching the gospel and using the word God every third word).

My problem lately has been that candidates, especially on the national level, have felt this need to 'out-religion' each other. Every candidate has felt the need to be shown going to worship every Sunday, and discuss the depth of their faith. And I don't think it's because of their deep belief in religion so much as they're afraid that they'll lose votes if they don't. And that part bothers me. Why should it matter? It doesn't make a difference to me whether someone is deeply religious, somewhat religious, or doesn't worship much at all; that has no direct effect on their ability to govern.

Beyond that, does this mean that atheists/agnostics cannot run for public office now? Is Griffin screwed because he thinks of God as a sky fairy?

For those of you that have never checked out the Tennis Masters tournament at the Lindner Center, I highly recommend it. It starts today and runs through the 21st. Other than the four grand slams, this is the tennis tournament in the world. Every major player comes here. Even if you're not a huge tennis fan, the atmosphere is almost carnival like. There's shops and activities everywhere, and ample alcohol for your desire. It's worth a day or evening just to check it out.

Something very interesting is brewing for the Reece Family. Now, if it only wasn't Nate bringing this up, it might have a lot more credibility and respectability behind it. I am not going to let a good scandal go un-noticed though, so I shall be watching how this turns out. If people remember, Damon Lynch went though something similar in 2003 when he ran the first time for City Council.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Over the past week the Enquirer has published two stories about males found guilty of attempted murder: Jesse Gandy and Benjamin White (I can't find the Enquirer link on the White case so I pulled the Post's). I realize they're both juveniles, but I'm not really focusing on the particulars of the case.

The greater question I've always had is, why do people get lighter sentences for attempted murder than for murder? The intent is the same; you're trying to end another person's life. That's why they call it attempted murder. Why should you get a lighter sentence because you didn't 'succeed' at it? Is there a belief that you have less of a chance of committing another crime if you didn't actually kill the person? Maybe the argument is facetious or naive, but I would really like to understand from a legal or other perspective why this is.

I'm sure some people will say, 'that's like comparing shoplifting with robbing a bank of millions'. I would say that the analogy above is more comparable to a singular murder to multiple murders. In the end the intent is still the same, you're just comparing volumes.

UPDATE: Whoops, forgot to sign the post. That happens when you blog with 4 hours sleep.

Hear that Bengal growlin' Mean and angaree Here he comes a prowlin' Lean and hungaree An offensive brute Run pass or boot And defensively he's rough, tough Cincinnati Bengals That's the team we're gonna cheer to victory Touchdown Bengals Get some points up on that board And win a game for CincinnatiUpdate: see above

Thursday, August 11, 2005

It looks like Bob Taft has some competition for biggest buffoon politician in Ohio. Check out this story from the Cleveland Plain-Dealer on 14th district Rep. Steve LaTourette. It's paginated, but trust me, it's worth reading. The rep changed his vote from no to yes on CAFTA, under rationale that basically either makes him look like an idiot or a liar. They report, you decide.

I don't have much time to comment on the Bronson column today, but I'll go out on a limb and say that if it was a Democrat governor that was embroiled in the free golf controversy, I think he would take a much harder stance on the situation than he does with Taft. Instead he plays it off like it's no big deal, and talks about something called Goofus and Gallant, which I've never heard of. Perhaps it's some 1950's cartoon, which again shows how out of touch he is with the present day. Personally I would have preferred a Heckle and Jeckle reference instead.

Three months ago the city of Mason passed a 9.94 mil (if someone could define a mil for me I would appreciate it) school levy by a 53-47% margin. Well now some group called the Citizens for Accountability and Results in Education (CARE) has gathered signatures to challenge the levy. They're looking to get a referendum on the Nov. 8 ballot to render the levy null and void. They might as well just call their group SCREW YOU.

Apparently this is the new right strategy to battling election results they don't like; act like it didn't happen in the first place. Notice that nowhere in the article do they challenge the validity of the results of the election. They just didn't like the outcome, so now they want to get their own measure on the ballot to see how that goes. CARE president John Meyer stated the following: "It's in bad character by school officials in trying to stop the will of the people to vote on a tax issue". Funny how he doesn't have quite the concern of stopping the will of the people when it came to the tax levy, but trying to stop the will of the people who want to stop the will of the people is in bad character. (I know people will try to compare this to the Bush/Gore election. Gore asked for a recount; that's tremendously different from this situation.)

I also wonder if this proposed referendum gets on the ballot and passes, will CARE object if Mason puts the levy back on the ballot in May? I'd say that's at least fair, it'd be a tiebreaker, best two out of three vote. That sounds silly I know, but this whole situation is as well.

In yesterday's Enquirer, Charlie Winburn reacts to the controversy surrounding comments he made in his 1989 book "Ruling and Reigning in the 90's". Unfortunately for him, he then tries to re-write history by saying what he really meant by some of his statements (in the block 'if I had to rewrite that section of it). Let's check out how he trips over himself:

Selection 1What he wrote in 1989: he decries separation of church and state, then comments how Satan wants to keep Christians out of everyday life so he can control their destiny, then finishes with a biblical quote that Satan wants control of the people and God.What he would write in 2005: claims that separation was used to tell Christians to stay out of government, but then says all religions should participate in government.My take: Ummm...no...separation was put in to keep religion out of government, it has nothing to do with keeping people out of government. And I don't see how the comment about Satan somehow meant that all religions should get in the game.

Selection 21989: the infamous passage that said Christians should clean up politics by only elect born-agains, and those who were not should be unseated.2005: now he believes in loving kindness, and that he's tolerant of everyone, and he would rephrase that everyone should respect the laws of the land and respect each other.My take: in the words of Chandler Bing, that is so not the same thing. His first quote had nothing to do with national law, it was about religious fanaticism. There's no love in that statement, it's practically a call to arms. Don't try and distract by changing the subject.

Selection 31989 old school: the pastor and his church are under commandment to teach more than itself, and if politicians are not Christians they should be taught the ways and acts of God. They should go to them aggressively, but with love.2005 remix: It's all about the love. People in authority should be respected and people should not use religion to discriminate.My take: wha whaa whaaat? The first passage is evangelical zealotry, but suddenly he doesn't want religion to enter into the equation. Again, distraction is the key; change the subject and all is forgiven.

So you'd think the crapfest is done? Noooooo, not even close. Charlie then whines that 'Tim Burke created this religious war' by making the book quotes public. Chuck (can I call you Chuck), the only religious war is in your mind. Tim was only revealing quotes from a book that you wrote! Don't expect to make comments like that and then not have them come back to bite you in the ass, and then try to paint yourself as the victim of a religious attack.

Over at Naughty Pundit, Ron links to the Right Wing News (a page I think it's safe to say I wouldn't frequent regularly), which polled 47 right-wing bloggers to select their least favorite member of the right. I think it's at least good to show that the right does not view all of their members with 100% favoritism.

So on that note, I ask the lefties, who on that side of the aisle would be your least favorite. I'll toss out four:

Howard Dean - I just feel like he's got his own personal agenda, rather than the good of the party, and he's not a good consensus builder.

Joe Lieberman - Too damned wishy-washy, almost does a lot of things but never goes all the way.

Jay Rockefeller - Has just gotten brutalized by Pat Roberts as co-chair of the Intelligence Committee; terribly under-skilled for the position.

Terry McAuliffe - Head of the DNC for some of the most horrid election results in recent memory.

Just in case someone cares, I am alive and well on my vacation. Alaska is freakin' sweet! It is warm as Hell here so far, and the weatherman says things are going to continue as it has been. Once my cruise ends, I will have more to post. It is now about 1:10 AM here, and I have been drinking (shocking!) and have lost money at the casino (Also shocking!). I am having a great time and hope life in Cincinnati only sucks through next week. Hope everyone is well!

After just three years on the job as city manager, City Manager Valerie Lemmie resigns and expects to be able to take seven weeks paid leave instead of working through the transition to a new manager? And she had already taken four weeks vacation this year alone? That, my friends, takes some brass ones. Call me crazy, but when you leave a job, you put in your notice and you work up to that day, and if you don't, you don't get paid.

Lemmie claims that this was Mayor Luken's idea. While I seriously doubt that it was (HR Director Carole Cunningham says that it was fair and reasonable for her to get the seven weeks paid...how I have no idea), that would be an incredibly imprudent move considering yesterday's news of the city pension shortfall.

The County Business Patterns report shows what we all probably expected: Hamilton County is losing jobs to the suburbs. This shouldn't be altogether shocking. Butler, Warren, and Boone counties for one have more land to develop for new business complexes. Given a choice, people would like to work close to home, and since the suburban counties' population has grown over the past several years it follows that the jobs would gravitate there as well. Couple that with downtown's inability to draw major businesses and retain the ones it has (without having to give them the world), and that leads to the above circumstances.

More troubling is the fact that "the region's population and labor force are growing at only half the national rate", according to George Vredeveld from the Economics Center at UC. Again, this isn't exactly news, considering that Cincinnati hasn't been very successful at luring younger workers to the area. At some point, the city (and surrounding areas) has to start making an effort to make the area more attractive to outsiders.

Monday, August 08, 2005

Some unions dissatisfied with the AFL-CIO plan to formally establish a new federation Sept. 27 in Cincinnati.

Details on the convention are in flux, including which unions in the Change to Win Coalition will participate.

Certain to attend are the three unions that defected from the AFL-CIO last week: the Service Employees International Union, the Teamsters and the United Food and Commercial Workers.

Four other unions also are among the Change to Win insurgents. Three of those are still affiliated with the AFL-CIO - the United Farm Workers, the Laborers' International Union of North America and Unite Here, which represents textile, hotel and restaurant workers. The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America left the AFL-CIO in 2001.

The article continues by explaining why Cincinnati was chosen:

Cincinnati was chosen for its central location, because Ohio is "always up for grabs, politically," and because it is home to Cintas Corp., the laundry company that is the target of a coordinated organizing campaign by the Teamsters and Unite Here, said Jim Papien, a spokesman for the Food and Commercial Workers.

Between the 2004 Presidential election, the Taft scandal, last week's 2nd Congressional district special election, and this upcoming labor meeting, Ohio has become a regular hotspot for national political news, information, and events.

Change to Win Coalition has been in discussions about holding a daylong meeting as early as next month at the Millennium Hotel Cincinnati on Fifth Street downtown.

A sales executive at the Millennium also confirmed that discussions have been ongoing but said no deal has been signed. A representative for Change to Win said the group should be ready to discuss plans in more detail by early next week.

Question for the commenters:

Will Ohio's new role in national politics soon be forgotten or is it here to say?

Courtesy of Joe Wessels, apparently some prospective council members and mayoral candidates aren't exactly falling over themselves to be courteous to reporters. You'd think that someone about to run for elected office would want to put their best foot forward for those that write about their campaigns (and eventually help to shape voter's perceptions of them). If reporters can't get a few minutes of their time, do we really expect them to pay attention to private citizens?

I always get a bit nervous when people start discussing the funding of pensions. Now comes word that under-budgeting will force taxpayers to chip in $9 million to fully fund the city pension fund. Just from an amateur's perspective, it seems that a bit too much of the funding is dependent on investment gains. With the unpredictability of the stock market recently, perhaps there are better methods to funding that don't include reducing benefits.

Sunday, August 07, 2005

A few weeks ago Maggie Downs wrote an article about her boyfriend's sky-diving crash and the difficulties of a long re-hab ahead. Today Paul Daugherty writes a spectacular piece on her boyfriend (Jason Yasuda), the death of his friend (Sean Crossman), and what draws people to skydiving. Daugherty is always worth reading, today more so than normal.

Ohh, how I would have loved to have found a column of Bronson's to agree with. But unfortunately that's not going to happen today, as he uses the deaths of five local soldiers to tell us that we should all blindly believe that the war in Iraq is just, and anyone that doesn't must hate America.

The crux of this article comes from the statement he got from Iraq veteran John Detling, who said that "people who say 'I suuport the troops but I don't support the war' can't have it both ways. Talk about demoralization.". This line has become typical of the Bush era black/white 'you're with us or against us' world attitude.

I really don't mean to disrespect Mr. Detling, but one of the capabilities we have is to be able to hold two opposed views in our minds and be able to confront both individually. I support the troops; I greatly admire the job that they perform every day for their country, and I'll gladly shake any of their hands and give them a pat on the back (I will also contribute money so that they can have the top-line Kevlar battle armor that this administration refuses to provide for them, but that's another story). I also can appreciate that the troops don't get to choose their assignments; that is done for them. I may not believe in the mission they're sent to, but I sure hope for their sakes that they accomplish it and get home as quickly as possible. But in the Bush world, I hate the troops, which must mean I hate America.

And can we please stop with the 'your protest of the war demoralizes the troops and gives aid and comfort to the enemy'. The enemy can't even get running water, I doubt they get Fox News out there. Bronson says that most soldiers believe we're winning; I've heard as many that would say otherwise.

Bronson then goes on to quote some 'private CIA' group that says that the recent attacks are signs that the enemy is desperate (the last throes argument). Again, considering the attacks are becoming more frequent and more powerful, I fail to see how this all works. I sincerely hope they're right, I'm just not holding my breath.

Saturday, August 06, 2005

This enquirer article explains the reasoning behind requiring criminal background checks for federally subsidized housing. Hamilton County has stopped accepting applications for the funding until they are able to implement a program to eliminate people with a criminal record.

"The over-saturation of Section 8 housing already has had a detrimental impact on too many neighborhoods," DeWine said. "The least government can do is ensure those with criminal backgrounds are kept out of this program. If you go to neighborhoods like Westwood and Price Hill, folks there are certainly feeling the effects of Section 8 housing there. They don't need criminals living there."

Apparently Dewine would prefer to see criminals living on the street where they are more likely to continue committing crimes.

This year, Hamilton County will spend just over $18 million on rents for 2,738 subsidized housing units. Its program is separate from that operated by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority. The metropolitan housing agency will spend $41 million this year on about 7,200 subsidized rental units, spokeswoman Kelly Kramer said.

She first quotes president Bush, who states the following: "...you're asking me whether or not people ought to be exposed to different ideas, and the answer is yes.". That is transcendental comedy from this guy. There has been no presidential administration in recent memory that has gone to greater lengths to ensure that all of its members have nearly exactly the same thoughts on every issue. Heck, on Iraq alone, anyone that has disagreed with the party line has been villified (Paul O'Neill), crucified (Richard Clarke), nudged out the door (Colin Powell), or had their wife's covert status with the CIA revealed in several periodicals (nuff said). So let's dispose of that idea right now.

Playing 'devil's advocate', she then makes the argument '...what if ID were taught in the interest of making education more interesting?'. In the words of Jon Stewart, whaaaaaaaa? I'm sorry, maybe I missed something, I thought that school was meant to teach subjects based in fact, not untested theory for the purpose of livening things up. Science experiments where mixing two chemicals makes them fizz over a Pyrex jar is interesting. Hearing a guest speaker explain how you use the skills you learn in school in the real world is interesting. Laerning about a theory that has all of the scientific basis of 2+2=6 is not interesting.

As a 14-year old freshman, however, I can tell you exactly what would have made school more interesting for me: hot teachers in bikinis (Women feel free to fill in your own idea there)! Seriously, if high school was 4 years of nothing but a Van Halen video, I would have found it far more interesting...whether I would have learned any more is up for debate.

That argument failing, Ms. Parker then pulls the new right-wing line that ID is not exactly creationism, but rather whether '...the apparent design in nature observed by biologists is genuine design (the product of an organizing intelligence) or is simply the product of chance and mechanical natural laws.'. So what exactly would an 'organizing intelligence' be if it were not God? And how exactly do you prove scientifically that there is an 'organizing intelligence'? Is George Burns going to come down in a golf cap and tan slacks and tell us he's God again? Further, if somehow the planets align and you were able to prove ID, whose God put it all together? Jesus? Allah? Buddah? Jobu from Major League?

(And let's not kid ourselves, Bush may be calling it ID now, but he's clearly got a track record of wanting creationism taught in the schools. See these quotes from 1999. And if you say that he changed his mind, well then he was for creationism before he was against it, and damnit that makes him a flip-flopper, and we know how bad that is.)

This is typical of the current conservative playbook. They throw out an idea that is completely out of left field, and when it is dismissed they demand that it should be part of the debate, because if it's not then the media is trying to silence them because they're just a bunch of liberals. It's like offering to buy a new Mustang for $2 and then demanding that the bid be considered, so you can compromise in the middle and get a $30K car for $15K.

Friday, August 05, 2005

A recent WCPO/Survey-USA poll shows 3 main contenders for the 2 available primary spots.

QUESTION: On September 13th, Cincinnati will have a Primary for Mayor. If the Primary for Mayor of Cincinnati were today, and you were standing in the voting booth right now, who would you vote for? Mark Mallory? David Pepper? Alicia Reece? Charlie Winburn? Or some other candidate?

Of 583 likely registered voters, 27% would vote for Alicia Reece; 24% for David Pepper; and 23% for Mark Mallory.

Korte has the breakdown by age, race, sex, party affiliation, education, and ideology.

The thing that sticks out in the breakdown for me is the fact that Pepper did better among Republicans than Winburn did. What does this say about these two candidates specifically, and more importantly what does it say about the state of the local Republican party?

It is also important to keep in mind that, according to the Korte article

The methodology -- a touch-tone poll in which randomly selected respondents answer recorded questions read by WCPO anchor Clyde Gray -- remains somewhat controversial among many professional pollsters.

I am looking forward to seeing other polls that will be available soon.

Jean Schmidt got the keys to her new office...and she called her family...and she wants to put some personal effects on the walls...and she set up her voicemail and e-mail...and dropped off chocolates to other congresspeople...and this qualifies as news? Having just switched jobs a few months ago, I can tell you that the first day is not a thrilling day, much less newsworthy (they didn't even mention if she was informed about where the fire exits were).

On a side note, if she does push for stronger sexual predator laws and protection of landowners from eminent domain, then I'll at least be able to agree with her on a couple issues.

Somebody familiar with the topic please help me; is cornholing the appropriate term for the act of playing cornhole? If not, what is Katie doing to our city? Doesn't she know that the majority of this town opposes gay marriage?

Robert Novak threw a hissy fit yesterday afternoon in an interview at CNN, dropped the BS bomb (uncensored), and walked off the set after a mild jab from James Carville. Afterwards, CNN released a statement that Novak was 'going to take some time off'. Here's hoping it's for the rest of his career; just a nasty, mean-spirited person.

CNN reporter Ed Henry said at the end of the interview that he informed Novak that he would be asking him about the CIA leak case. Speculation is that this snit was his way of getting out of answering any questions on this, though he did answer questions on this last month so I'm not sure how much weight that holds. However, having seen the tape on The Daily Show last night, I have to say there was something fishy about the incident. Novak had taken far worse shots from Carville and Paul Begala on Crossfire; this seemed like a pretty mild remark about his interest in furthering the cause of the right. Plus he didn't really storm off in anger, it felt very calculated, he just took his mike off and sauntered off the set. All in all very weird.

I am off on my trek to the North. Please be kind to those who are brave enough to fill in for me while I take some RnR. I will likely chime in when the opportunity arises, but other wise I will be taking it easy. Please play fair and be kind. Have fun and talk to you on the other side!!!!!

Joe Wessels has the scoop on Clermont County was delayed in reporting half of their votes. It seems that the optical scan ballots are not meant for the summer, since they don't work well if they get moist.

Thursday, August 04, 2005

I know I harp on Bronson a lot, but today he is just being stupid First Peter, "OK, Hackett's a veteran - and" you and Jean Schmidt are NOT! If you are going to fight in a war it might be good to have the perspective of someone who has been there. Ask Bob Dole how using War service was a way to win elections. Also, I wonder how many times we say Bush senior and Bush junior in their military uniforms during commercials.

Second, Bronson wrote this:

Many conservative Republicans may have stayed home because they thought Schmidt like another Taft RINO (Republican in Name Only) on taxes and abortion.

What is Bronson smoking? Ok, yes, Schmidt was called a Tax raiser by the boys at COAST, but she freaking runs a local Right to Life Group, who was questioning her stance on abortion! She is a freaking extremist on that and her anti-gay stance with her opposition to Gay Marriage. I think Peter is getting flash backs from his days reading about Woodstock in the newspaper and wishing he was a real hippie, not a fake one.

Why was this column not run before the election? It really offers nothing of value after the election and sounds like pointless drivel. Yes, most of Bronson's columns are pointless drivel, but this is where the editor (Hello David Wells!) should have rejected it.

Finally, when will the Enquirer allow a real response to this idiot in the newspaper? (Note I call him names because. well, he is acting like a child and should therefore be treated like one)

Bronson seems to live in a world where only the real hacks live. Jesus can't help you now Peter, the Democrats are coming, and you can't hold us back. Well, unless you start scaring the bigots again, but you don't have Fearless Leader to mislead anyone into that zone of fear this time.

Damn, this guy's writing is really spiteful. As a blogger, yes I am going to be spiteful, but jeesh, you stop wondering why people send him nasty email. Speaking of email, this is what I sent to him today:

Peter,

Damn, I don't think I have seen such a spiteful article from you. It was actually fairly childish. The only thing missing is a picture of you sticking out your tongue.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Greetings all. My name is Adam Bartel, and I will be one of the guest bloggers while Brian is on vacation. Some of you may know me from my posts on here under the name ‘Adam’ (not as creative as FunnelCake, but it gets the job done). I currently run a blog called Reality Bytes, which covers such important topics as pop culture, reality TV, sports, and the like. It will be a (welcome) change to go from writing about Carrie Underwood and Big Brother to local politics and current events. As Brian had mentioned, he was looking for a leftie, and he’s got one in me (left-handed too, but that’s another story), so hopefully we’ll be able to keep the debates going on both sides.

Kevin Drum has a great post on Bush's recent statement in support of teaching ID in public schools and brings up his past comments on teaching Christian Creationism.

Side note: why do supporters of Christian Creationism not label it as Christian Creationism? They could throw in Jews and maybe Muslims somehow, but since when did the religious aspect of the issue get lost on the vernacular?

What I am most baffled by is how Hackett won all of the East Counties? How did he when bible belt Adams County? I think this shows the breakdown for the GOP. SW Ohio is solid for them, though not as solid as they think, but South Central Ohio is in Play. After all, Strickland used to have much of those counties, so it really should not be that much of a stretch for Hackett to win there.

After all six other counties in the district had completed their ballot counts in what was a low-turnout election, Schmidt’s home county, Clermont, had reported a little more than half of its precincts.
“I have no idea what is going on over there,’’ said Hamilton County Board of Elections chairman Tim Burke. “I don’t know what their problem is.’’

They have electronic optical scan machines, which means they should have been done the fastest. Why were they later than Hamilton County? I am not look for conspiracies here, just like to point out things that look like incompetence. I hope they double check how they vote. What makes this look bad, is that before the rest of Clermont county finally submitted their votes, the race was a dead heat, 50/50. It just looks bad. It would be nice, especially since the newspaper is reporting it, that the Clermont county officials come out and say why they were delayed. That can put to rest, assuming they have a valid and plausible excuse, and fears of hanky panky.

Democrats should hold their heads high. This was a long shot race and in the end, the bigot vote and nutty anti-women (anti-abortion) vote won out. There are still people who can't get past those issues. They can disagree on everything else, but those, and they still will give their vote to the extremist. Well, the same kind of fools voted for Bush, and in America fools do grow on trees.

The House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi has this to say in press release:

"Paul Hackett is a war hero who campaigned with the same dignity and honor that he served our country. Paul ran an excellent campaign and made what should have been an easy Republican win a tough contested race.

"The issues, political, and ethics environment are good for Democrats and Paul Hackett's campaign in a Republican district proves it.

"Republicans are on notice -- Americans are demanding a change. Americans will no longer tolerate the Republicans' continued abuses of power and catering to corporate special interests at the expense of the public interest.

"Democrats are committed to expanding opportunity, growing prosperity, and increasing security for every American."

She is right; Hackett proved that Democrats are alive and kicking in this city. We are not rolling over and this should be making some statewide GOP folks mighty nervous right now.

I made my way downtown to the Paul Hackett party at the Aronoff Center. Very nice event, spirited crowd. I think everyone felt good. I could not stay late and missed Paul addressing the crowd. The media was there fairly heavily, including a couple of national outlets, like Mother Jones.

So who will win and what will be the percentages. I myself don't know who will win. If Schmidt wins she will get 56 to 44 for Hackett. If Hackett wins, he will get 52 to 48 for Schmidt. Either way the story will read that the Dems gained ground in OH-2.

Also on FOX this headline "Bush: Schools Should Teach 'Intelligent Design' Alongside Evolution". So Bush is a Theocrat after all! Go figure that he wants to get religion into schools through the back door. Well, Bush seems to think he can run for office again, because this is the stupidest thing I have heard him say to the press in a long time. He doesn't need to stroke the religious right any more than he has.

It is down to the last full day before the election for the 2nd District. Paul Hackett has run a wonderful campaign. I have been fairly out of touch this weekend, so I have no concept of how the campaigns are going, other than the reminder by the RNC that Paul Hackett is not anti-gay, since he doesn't support the Gay Marriage ban that I guess is now a nation GOP policy. Good to know the GOP is in full anti-gay mode now.

Today will be ruff on both candidates with the temperature expected to be in the low 90's. The staffs did well and now it is about turnout. In case people didn't know, you should be getting out and vote for Paul Hackett. Since this is my personal congressional seat, I have to say I don't want an extremist like Schmidt who will be a failure in office and likely will not get the GOP nomination next year. Her failure will be her lame duck before she begins status. That is something the Enquirer failed to see. She would have lost big in the primary if the field did not have 3 other well known candidates.

I don't know who will win, but it has shown to me that the Liberals/Progressives/Moderates are not dead in this town and can stand up to extreme right wing when they need too.